STANDBY: Staff members conduct preparations before the launch of Tiangong 1 space lab module at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on September 29 (XINHUA) |
Shenzhou 8 was carried into space by a modified Long March-2F rocket, which took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province at 5:58 a.m. on November 1. The Tiangong-1 space module was sent into space on September 29.
The success of the docking procedure makes China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the technique. The mastery of space docking technology takes the country one step closer to establishing its own permanent space station by 2020.